Egypt: the time is now

Property investors should be taking a closer look at Egypt, argues one company...

According to Experience International, tourism in Egypt has become a ‘leading sector for the nation's economic development', and as a result, authorities are working closely with the private sector to ensure that everything is in place to advance the appeal of the industry.

The Telegraph and the Guardian newspapers recently ran stories about the dramatically rising popularity of Egypt as a holiday destination among Britons. The rise has been attributed to a unique combination of factors such as the amount of investment the nation has consistently been ploughing into the upgrading and promotion of its tourism product, and the fact that Egypt lies firmly outside of the expensive eurozone.

Rapidly advancing tourism market

The Foreign Office and ABTA have jointly reported that there has been an increase of almost 40% in the numbers of Britons choosing Egypt too, proving that this is a country with a rapidly advancing tourism market.

Egyptian tourism officials believe that soon-to-be-released statistics will show almost a 20% increase in visitor arrivals in 2008 compared to 2007, and the World Travel & Tourism Council predict that Egypt's Real Travel & Tourism activity growth over the next 10 years will average at least 7%.

Meanwhile, the country is continuing its heavy international promotion with the launch of 'Visit Egypt 2009' in India for example.

Strong rental returns

A spokesperson for Experience International commented: "Clearly, these are all signs that the time is right for a closer look at what Egypt has to offer the property investor and real estate consumer, because where the tourism market leads, so a nation's property market tends to follow.

"Naturally, as an emerging destination the nation's property market was starting from a very low level price-wise, and this has been helped by the fact that properties are not sold in euros.

"The property market has been further boosted by the increase in cheap flight operators arriving in Egypt, by the improvements in transparency in the ownership process and because of the potentially strong rental and capital appreciation returns".

Source: www.experience-international.com